Alcohol and Minors

A full-column length Times editorial by Philip Boffey presses the case the Times has been making in favor of legalizing marijuana. It includes this passage:

Marijuana's negative health effects are arguments for the same strong regulation that has been effective in curbing abuse of legal substances. Science and government have learned a great deal, for example, about how to keep alcohol out of the hands of minors. Mandatory underage drinking laws and effective marketing campaigns have reduced underage alcohol use to 24.8 percent in 2011, compared with 33.4 percent in 1991.

Click through the link to the CDC data provided by the Times, and you will see the following disclaimer, which the Times doesn't pass along to its print readers: "Due to survey design modifications, comparison of results from before 1999 to 1999–2001 and 2002–2011 need to be made with caution."

Moreover, while the government may have made some limited progress in keeping alcohol out of the hands of minors, it is hardly an example of "effective" regulation. A 2009 Times editorial reported "the amount of binge drinking — downing five or more drinks in a row — remains high at colleges." And extensive Times news coverage of rape on college campus makes clear that alcohol abuse is often involved. The CDC reports "1 in 5 teen drivers involved in fatal crashes had some alcohol in their system in 2010."

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